Change
by flowinthestream12
Summary: Continued from 19 Years Later. As a First Year, Al makes a choice so that he could step out of his father's shadow in the eyes of the Wizarding World. This choice could be good for him or could mean something very bad.
1. The Sorting

A rather tall raven-haired man stepped up onto the ledge of one of London's skyscrapers, the Shard. Beneath his hooded white cloak, his emerald green eyes gleamed behind his circular glasses. Auror Harry Potter stepped off the ledge and twisted through the air. A loud _crack _startled the Muggles bustling on the sidewalk below. But, before they could peer up at the cloudless sky, Harry had Apparated to the front gates of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.

He felt a familiar pang of nostalgia as he peered through the bars up at the ancient campus down the path. Harry had just turned thirty-six years old that past summer and had fathered three children with his wife, Ginny Weasley. He had returned to the castle several times since the war had ended to give a lecture on the Dark Arts. This was such an occasion. Harry took a step back when he saw the large speck of Hagrid, the gamekeeper, trudging up the path to open the gate for him.

Harry was not a teenager any longer, but, he still felt dwarfed by his oldest friend. They shook hands, Harry squeezing back with competitive strength, before Hagrid pulled him in for a hug. He saw Hagrid often enough, but, it was often a cause for at least a moment of celebration. Hagrid walked with him down the path till it split and took his leave to his hut set at the skirt of the Forbidden Forest. Harry was let into the castle by one of the heads of Houses, but, he walked down to the dungeons alone.

Harry's bony knuckles buried deeply inside his coat pockets, he ducked his head as he stepped over the threshold into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. This was the first time his youngest son, Al, would be watching his lecture. Harry removed the white hood of his Auror cloak from over his head and a hushed gasp whooshed over the room. His emerald eyes, so much brighter since the horcrux that had lived inside of his body for sixteen years was destroyed, had a varied affect on his First Year audience.

A few of the little girls and boys were blushing and giggling to each other. Harry's lips only spread into a smile when his eyes met his youngest son's, whom was sitting with whom he instantly recognized as Draco Malfoy's son. Al gazed up at his esteemed father and Harry was struck yet again by how very similar they were in appearance. Al was Harry's clone right up to his green eyes. If Al had the lightning bolt shaped scar, they would be.

However, Harry had only ever worn Slytherin robes once in his second year. Albus Potter would be wearing them till he would graduate ...

* * *

Albus Severus '_Al_' Potter had a lot of expectations to meet ... and he could feel the weight of those expectations as the mouth of Sorting Hat closed firmly around his crown.

"Another Potter!" exclaimed the Sorting Hat's voice inside of his mind.

Perhaps it was his severe physical likeness to his famous father, but, he always felt like he had more to meet than his older brother, James, or his younger sister, Lily. He worried most of how he would perform in Defense Against the Dark Arts, his father's best subject, and if he would succeed in joining a Quidditch team, which _both_ of his parents' excelled at. He was under so much pressure to be like his father. He loved him will all of his heart ... but, the pressure was nearly suffocating him.

"Put me in Slytherin." he found himself saying inside of his mind.

It seemed just as shocked as he felt.

The Sorting Hat chuckled disbelievingly, "I'll never forget how your father begged to be Sorted anywhere else but Slyth-"

"That's the point," Al explained. "Maybe they'll stop expecting so much of me." He swallowed uncomfortably, "Maybe James will take me seriously -"

"You're afraid you won't meet your expectations and you think being in Slytherin is the answer?"

Al faltered, "...Yes?"

The Sorting Hat stopped chuckling, "This decision cannot be redone. No re-dos here, Potter. Are you absolutely certain?"

Al looked out over the sea of faces turned expectantly towards him. He spotted James easily. He did not hate James. James was the class clown - he'd just make any mistake he made into a joke to make everyone believe he did it on purpose. The expectations did not appear to bother him one bit. The joke was always on the rest when it came to James.

He wondered if he was taking his brother for granted. They did fight a lot ... but ... Al knew that James loved him. He felt a need to be the one to break the chain.

"Yes." Al said with determination.

The Great Hall was never more silent than after the Sorting Hat made the announcement. Harry Potter's son had been placed in Slytherin. Al and James's eyes met. He had never seen his brother taken by surprise. Indeed, it had been James and his Uncle Ron whom had joked about this very thing on Platform 9 3/4 just hours ago. Al removed the Sorting Hat and placed it on the stool after he got to his feet. As he made his way to the Slytherin table, he finally found his cousin Rose.

He had not thought of her as he was making his decision. He was only eleven, after all. He could be forgetful. She was the cousin that he got along with best. She would no doubt be placed in Gryffindor. Al had not considered all he'd be saying 'goodbye' to.

He pursed his lips apologetically and kept moving along the long tables. He averted his eyes from her and found that he was looking at nothing in particular. He may reach the end of the table without even knowing. Al was trying his best to keep from crying, but, wanted his thin face hidden in case he failed.

"You can sit here if you want to," called a friendly voice.

Al turned, more sharply than he had intended, and stopped in his tracks. He was facing Scorpius Malfoy, the son of the former Deatheater, Draco Malfoy, and his father's former enemy. Indeed, there was a spot available right next to the blond boy. Al caught James's eye and he was shaking his head very subtly. Al held his gaze as he sank down onto the bench beside Scorpius.

James was first to break the stare, probably having accepted that there was nothing he could do.

Al bit his lower lip and turned with a hand out, "H-Hi, I'm -"

"I know who you are and you obviously know who I am," there was no hint of conceitedness in Scorpius's tone.

He had been simply stating a fact. But, he shook Al's hand gently. He was friendly. Al's father had been careful not to instill premature prejudice in his children, unlike their Uncle Ron. Uncle Ron was only doing it without thinking it through.

Al suspected that James had been listening to Uncle Ron, with whom he was close, a little too much in this regard. Al assumed that Scorpius had just as many expectations as he did. In fact, Scorpius may even have it worse than Al. Draco Malfoy did not share any of the admiration that Harry Potter had from the magical public, but, that didn't make him any less famous. He was famous for all the wrong reasons.

Scorpius had a legacy to change while Al needed to continue.

Scorpius was thinking along the same lines as he, "They expect us to be enemies."

Al nodded, glancing at his brother, "They do."

"I think we have a lot in common, Albus." Scorpius looked at him unconfidently. "I mean, both our fathers are famous. Feels like our lives have already been mapped out, yes?"

"I think I took an unexpected turn," Al chuckled humorlessly.

Scorpius smiled and said sarcastically, "Oh, I don't think anyone noticed."

Al grinned back, "You're not what I expected."

Scorpius shrugged, "Well, that's a relief." His smile faltered a little, "I shouldn't have invited you to sit here." When Al looked embarrassed, Scorpius explained, "It won't help your image to be seen with me -"

"I don't care about my image," Al could tell that Scorpius knew that was a lie. "OK, I do. But, I don't judge. I promise."

That had been a lie as well. But, Scorpius obviously wanted to believe it to be true and did not question it aloud. With the Sorting Hat completed, the meal magically appeared on all of the long tables. Al had inherited his father's lithe frame, but, he was a bit taller than Harry Potter had been in his First Year. Al had been very well cared of his entire life.

His father had been malnourished while growing up with the Dursleys. Al of course had not been told about this. That would have made the visits with his uncle Dudley a whole lot more awkward. Scorpius used all of his utensils to eat and Al decided to imitate him so that everyone would stop staring at him.

"So, 'Scorpius'." Al said after taking a bit of the creamy mashed potatoes, "That's a cool name."

"Not as cool as yours," Scorpius disagreed, though he appreciated the compliment.

Al laughed, "Sometimes it feels like my parents wrote down all the names of witches and wizards they admired, cut them up, dumped them in a fishbowl, and picked them out with a blindfold on."

Scorpius snickered, "That's funny. But, you're named after _Albus Dumbledore_." He furrowed his soft brows, "I'm not quite sure why he'd name you after _Severus Snape_, though."

"He forgave him," Al explained.

Scorpius shrugged, "I guess that's enough."

"Yeah."

They kept chatting throughout the feast. For a few moments, Al was not focusing on how odd this must be for the rest of the room. A son of Potter and the son of Malfoy getting along. If that did not end up in the Daily Prophet, Al would be shocked.


	2. The Key

When the feast was over and the headmaster whom succeeded Headmistress McGonagall gave the start of term notices, Al and Scorpius were joined at the hip. Evidently, the very blond and grey-eyed boy was just as friendless as Al. All of Al's friends and family were sorted into the other three Houses. He recalled the story of how his father had met uncle Ron. Al had always wished for a brotherhood like his father had with another student.

Perhaps Scorpius might become his first best mate. Uncle Ron had welcomed Harry on the Hogwarts Express over twenty-five years ago. Scorpius had done similarly at the long wooden Slytherin dining table. With his new friend in tow, Al followed the rest of the First Years to meet the Headboy and Headgirl to be escorted to the Slytherin common room while the older Years dragged their tired feet past. Al gazed over their heads to find his brother and his cousin, whom had been placed in Gryffindor.

But, he only spotted Rose. He assumed disappointedly that James had already left the Great Hall without a word. Al had been so sure that James would be curious as to how he had been placed in Slytherin.

"Who are you looking for?" Scorpius asked Al, squinting at the back of his head.

Al glanced down at his trainers, "Just my big brother."

"Oh," Scorpius shrugged and turned away. "Well, you'll find him soon enough. He might be exhausted from the trip and gone to bed early."

Al appreciated his consoling, "Yeah, you're probably right."

But, he was very likely wrong. James was every bit the night owl and would likely be dragging his feet to breakfast the next morning after partying with his dorm mates - that is if he made it to breakfast at all. Al tried to distract himself with the events to look forward to in the first term. He would be receiving his class schedule tomorrow morning, Quidditch lessons would be starting next week, and he would be returning home a week before Christmas for the break. Although, he knew that he would be rejoining his father long before the first snow would fall.

Harry Potter was scheduled to give a Dark Arts lecture near the beginning of the term for each Year. This reunion almost gave Al more anxiety than his Quidditch lessons. Sure, he had his own broom back at home. But, he had not flown for many people outside of his family. There were small games held with his Weasley cousins since he was quite small.

Preferring time to himself more often than not as he grew older, he was rather out of practice. There were of course times when he felt social. Al followed the Head Boy to the dungeons where the Slytherins lived. He could feel eyes on the pair of them and felt even more bonded with Scorpius by their shared intrusion. The dungeons were colder than the main floor so Al folded his arms tightly to his chest. He tried to listen to the Head Boy tell them all about the dungeons, but, he felt like he was not learning it all.

"The dungeon hall is that way," the Head Boy indicated the direction to take, "But, we're gonna take this staircase down to the common room. I imagine you're all ready for your naps."

The entrance was located behind a stone wall at the end of the staircase.

"The password is '_Equality_'. It changes every fortnight and you'll find the new one on the notice board," the Head Boy warned them, furrowing his brows at the disbelieving giggles that responded. "Yes, easy word to remember and I hope that it serves as a reminder to you _all_ since the Second Wizarding War ended. Things are different from when your parents were enrolled."

Scorpius and Al exchanged a look of hope, but, the former did not seem any less apprehensive.

"We'll see how long that lasts," Scorpius muttered under his breath and Al snorted.

He blushed, but, the sound had made Scorpius laugh.

"You two are getting on well," commented a First Year from nearby.

Al turned, but, it was Scorpius who responded, "Why shouldn't we?"

The student cocked a brow before shifting through the crowd away from them.

Scorpius turned back to Al, "I scare people."

"Not me, you don't." Al smiled.

The Head Boy said the password and the stone wall before them shrank down into the floor like an elevator on its side. Al had overheard at the dining table that their common room was like an underwater shipwreck and he could not think of a more accurate comparison once he stepped inside of it. The walls were like the granite out in the dungeons and there were glowing green lamps hanging everywhere. They were the only sources of light apart from the glass windows showing the Black Lake. There were a lot of low backed black and dark green button-tufted leather sofas, decorative skulls, and dark wood cupboards.

"Beautiful!" Al whispered amongst the hushed gasps of wonder for the space.

The decor gave a grand and gothic atmosphere. Al found himself not feeling too intimidated by it. He quite liked it, especially the ancient tapestries depicting the adventures of medieval Slytherin students. He walked over to touch one while Scorpius hung back in the crowd. He smiled over his shoulder at Scorpius, but, found that he was not where he had left him.

He was then distracted by the sound of the swishing water and his mouth dropped open when he looked towards the windows. All of the First Years, including Scorpius, were crowded around the windows to look at the Giant Squid which had stopped by to see the newcomers. Al ran across the room, lunging over one of the low backed sofas, to get a closer look but the squid swam away just as he joined the crowd. The Head Boy seemed rather amused by their curiosity. He then departed from the group and they made their way to the two large arched corridors leading off the common room.

The Head Boy was joined by the Head Girl, standing between the two corridors, "Boys, you shall find your dormitories to the left."

"Girls on the right," the Head Girl added.

The Head Boy said, "Take a key from that basket there. The number attached will indicate which room you've been assigned. You'll find that the house elves have already deposited your trunks - and pets if you brought one from home - in your bedrooms."

"Want to meet at the window before you go to breakfast tomorrow morning?" Scorpius asked Al as they were jostled down the left corridor.

"Don't we share dorms?" Al asked, taken aback. "My brother rooms with -"

"No, mate." Scorpius shook his head, "We get our individual rooms. Only the other Houses have communal dorms."

Al tilted his head, "I guess that's good. Yeah, I'll meet you at the window. We can go together."

Scorpius looked relieved, "Goodnight, Albus."

"Call me 'Al'," Al insisted. "And goodnight to you, too."

"Alright, Al." Scorpius smiled, departing for his own dorm.

Scorpius continued down the corridor and vanished around the bend at what seemed like a hundred feet from Al. Al reread his room number hooked to his key and saw that it matched the door he was nearest. He found that he was the only one that had not gone inside yet. Al looked down the corridor at the spot where he last saw Scorpius, wishing he had asked the boy to spend the night. Al was suddenly feeling terribly alone and homesick. He missed his parents, especially his mum.

"_Oi_, YOU!" The Head Boy was rushing towards him with a few Fifth Year friends in tow. "Step away from that door! It's off-limits!"

Al frowned up at him and showed him his key, "But, I was assigned here. This is my room."

The Head Boy took up the key and showed it to his friends before returning it to Al, the Head Boy's eyes suddenly bright with mischievousness, "That's Salazar Slytherin's dorm, that is."

Al had wondered why the key seemed more delicately designed than Scorpius's, "R-_Really_?"

"I can see that you're frightened, boy." The Head Boy jeered, "Why don't you come with me and I'll get you a different room-?" Feeling rebellious, Al inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it, making the Head Boy shriek, "Wait, DON'T!"

Al pushed the door inward and stepped inside before getting a good look around, leaving the key in the keyhole. The Head Boy and his friends peered around the doorframe, but, did not dare step inside with Al. As promised, there was his large expensive trunk from home at the foot of the canopy bed and there was his owl rattling the bars of his cage set on his very ornate desk. The desk appeared to have been assembled a millennial ago, as did the dark mahogany canopy bed and the dresser. There was a window set just over the headboard which confused Al as they were in the dungeons of the castle.

The newest addition appeared to be the mirror nailed to the inside side of the door. The floor was stone like out in the corridor as were the walls, which had a few tapestries Al would have to investigate closer. The canopy bed was set in one corner of the room, making it only possible to climb onto from the left side. Al climbed up to sit at the foot of his new bed and smiled at the Head Boy.

"It's only a bedroom," Al consoled the much older boy genuinely. "It doesn't matter who slept in it."

The Head Boy looked insulted and blushed when his friends snickered, "_I wasn't scared_!"

Al smiled up at him again, "It'd be fine if you were."

"Salazar Slytherin wasn't the only bad wizard to have slept in that bed!" The Head Boy informed Al ominously.

The Head Boy watched comprehension dawn on Al's face and he slammed the door shut just as Al slipped off the bed to his feet. The key turned in the lock and fell out with the force of the slam, clacking to the stone floor of the corridor. Not realizing he was trapped in his room, Al turned to stare at the bed and felt his body turn numb.

"Voldemort?" he breathed, backing away from the bed.

Al could not think of another wizard that would be comparable to Salazar Slytherin. There was a chance that the Head Boy had been referring to Severus Snape, whom had not entirely won the favor of the wizarding community in spite of Harry Potter's kind words to say about him. Other names that crossed his mind were Bellatrix Lestrange, the Carrows, and Barty Crouch Jr.. Wiping at the back of his trousers, Al turned to leave and realized then that the key was on the other side. The knob would not turn.

"Hello?!" Al called before banging on the door with his fist, "Hello? Head Boy? Sir, are you still out there? I left my key out there and I can't get out!"

No one answered. Feeling his fist rattling on the end of his skinny forearm, Al knocked for another minute and called out for help before accepting that he would have to hope that someone will see the key in the morning and let him out. Rubbing his knuckles, Al turned glumly away from the door. When he saw his owl, he was struck by an idea. He tore off a corner from his roll of parchment inside his trunk and was about to sit at the desk before remembering who might have used it last. Al flattened the paper on the wall and wrote:

_James,_

_I might be locked inside of Voldemort's old bedroom. Please, come help me get out! The password is 'equality'!_

_- Al_

Al folded the note and was about to attach it to his owl when he remembered where he was. That window was enchanted like the ceiling in the Great Hall. It was not a real window. He could not send out his owl that way. They were both trapped. With the owl perched on his shoulder, Al sank down onto his trunk.

He said to it, "You better hope that someone lets us out. _One_ of us has to eat."

The owl clicked his beak and flew back to his cage. Al smirked then looked around the room.

"It's only a bedroom," He reminded himself as his breathing slowed. "It's only a bedroom. It doesn't matter who slept in it. It's just a bedroom."

To distract himself, Al decided to try on his new Slytherin uniform. Once he had everything on, he faced his reflection and his lips formed a tiny O again. The green of the Slytherin robes truly made his emerald eyes all the more striking and the black contrasted well with his porcelein skin. His spiky black hair all but disappeared when he pulled his hood up over his head. Turning this way and that before his mirror, Al was rather pleased with what he saw.

He fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning, slumped on the floor with his head on top of his trunk.


	3. The Sting

It was only when his head was clearer in the morning when Al realized that he could have opened the door with his wand. He had seen his father do it with their front doors back at home several times when Harry forgot his house key. Al doubted that he could have tested the spell properly when he was so afraid. Having slept in his new uniform, he peeled his face off of the trunk and bravely climbed onto the bed. The enchanted window showed that the sun was just starting its ascent.

Al hugged his new wand to his chest, pretending it was his father's arm which he had been clinging to so hard the day before. He heard his stomach growl and his owl rattled his cage to wake him up completely. Al sat up and yawned, aiming his wand at the doorknob.

"_Alohamora_!" he tried to say clearly, but, his voice was still cracking from sleep.

He tried a few more times before taking a break, the door remaining stubbornly locked. Al groaned and stepped down to the floor, straightening his shoulders and pointing at the door knob a step closer.

"_Alohamora_!" he said firmly.

The door knob twisted and clicked inward.

"I did it!" Al was so pleased with himself that his wand accidently slipped from his fingers an clacked to the floor. "Before my first lesson!"

Al scooped it up and pulled the door open further, his owl flying out overhead down the wrong way of the corridor away from the common room. He pinched up his key and stored it in his cloak pocket. He made a pit stop in the toilet before going to wait at the window for Scorpius. He checked his breath and decided to not speak too close to Scorpius's face. The sun was up in the sky now, brightening the Black Lake. The common room was brighter than it had been the night before.

Al saw that all of the older students were awake, most sipping tea, and were chatting with their friends about the summer holidays. Al waited so long at the window for Scorpius that the common room was emptied by the time he realized Scorpius must have gone to breakfast without him. But, he did not find him at the table in the Great Hall either. Al saw other friendly faces and he rushed towards them.

His cousin Rose Weasley gave him a hug around his neck, "Oh, Al! How are you?"

She had the bone structure of her mum, Hermione Weasley. But, she inherited her ginger hair and blue eyes from her dad, Ron Weasley. She had also inherited her mum's intelligence.

"Yeah, did the Bloody Baron attack you? You look so pale!" His cousin Roxanne Weasley commented, hugging him next.

Roxanne was the daughter of George Weasley and his wife, Angelina. Her older brother, Fred Jr., was joining the reunion.

"Er - no!" Al laughed. "I just didn't sleep very well."

"What are those marks on your face?" asked Fred, pinching Al's cheek.

Al moved out of his reach, rubbing his cheek, "Nothing!"

Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, the twin sons of Luna Lovegood, turned around nearby at the Ravenclaw table to see where the commotion was coming from. They were a bit more logical than their mother, however, they still were open-minded.

"I'm doing fine," He insisted to his cousins. "Where's my brother?"

"He hasn't pried his ass out of bed yet," replied Fred, standing tall.

Al laughed and sat with them all through breakfast, entirely forgetting Scorpius Malfoy. He did not mention to them that he had been assigned Salazar Slytherin's old Headmaster quarters that had been converted into a dorm. He received his class schedule for the day:

**1.** Transfiguration

**2.** Potions

**- Lunch - **

**3.** Defense Against the Dark Arts

**4.** History of Magic

When the bell rang to signal the official start of term, Al had to depart from his family. The Transfiguration classroom was located around the middle courtyard. There was a sun shower falling. It was there that Al finally spotted Scorpius and his heart leapt. Unless Scorpius was lost, they might have this class together. He was about to call out to him when he realized that Scorpius was being harassed by two Gryffindor boys three times his size. Al froze - he could not move a muscle, his emerald eyes fixed on Scorpius.

One Gryffindor tripped Scorpius and his ivory blond hair was blackened by the mud that waved over him as he flopped into a deep puddle. Al's wand was stored inside of his cloak, but, his brain was numb. Even if he could work out a thought to take hold of it, he did not know any defensive spells yet. He could not hear anything. It was as though the sound had broken on a television.

He was watching his new friend get harassed and he could not protect him. Suddenly, someone much larger than Al rushed past him.

James Potter Jr. rushed forward, "STOP! What are you doing?"

Scorpius's tearful grey eye gazed up at Al's older brother stepping in to his defense. Al found his feet again and took a step forward. Bright brown eyes flashing, so like his mum's, James looked very dangerous. He stepped out into the rain, his untidy black hair wilting in the downpour.

"His dad is friends with the Death Eater that attempted to assassinate Hermione Granger!" said one of the Fourth Years. "He's guilty by association!" He then growled down at Scorpius, "Was he at your birth, Death Eater? Spend holidays with them all, haven't you?"

James held his ground, "And would Hermione _Wealsey_ say if she saw you two beating up Draco Malfoy's son? She would be _livid_! She would_ hate_ you for it! She stands for non-violence and forgiveness! Compassion!" He then threatened, "I'll send her an owl about this myself!"

"How do you plan to reach such a celebrity?" asked the Fourth Year holding Scorpius's head in the mud.

"Because she's my _aunt_, that's how!" James informed him, aiming his wand at his fellow Gryffindors. "I'm James Potter Jr.! Release Scorpius immediately!"

Suddenly, the boy on top of Scorpius yelped and James flinched, staring at his own wand. He turned to see that Al was glaring at the injured boy with such intensity that he knew what had happened. There was no wand in his little brother's hand. Al relaxed when he realized that he had done. Since he had been unable to use proper magic, he had stung the hand of the bully with whatever uncontrolled magic brewed within him.

Many wizards had trouble controlling their emotions this young, including Harry Potter himself. Al pulled his wand out in a vain attempt to hide the fact that he had done that without a verbal hex. Scorpius picked himself up weakly from the mud and ran into the nearest classroom without looking at Al nor thanking James.

James watched Scorpius go before rounding on the two bullies again, "I hope you've had your fun taking the piss out of a First Year. You'll do well to avoid me in the future. Hermione Weasley will be hearing about this."

Al watched the two boys leave and his eyes widened when James turned to face him, "Thank you -"

"What was _that_?" James demanded, getting out of the rain. "Were you afraid of getting wet or some shit?"

Al was relieved that James wasn't referring to the sting.

He stepped back from his brother, "I froze! I don't know what happened -"

"_Potters_ don't '_freeze_'!" James claimed, "We step right into battle! I've seen you with that kid before! I thought he was your mate -"

"He is!" Al insisted.

"Some friend you are!" James scoffed. "I don't even know the kid and I stepped up for him!"

"I'm sorry!" Al apologized desperately, "I don't know why I - I just hesitated! I couldn't move -"

"You were a coward!" James told Al. "And don't apologize to _me_! I thought dad raised you better -"

"I'M NOT LIKE DAD!" Al exploded, screaming so loudly that his voice cracked.

Every student around them halted in their tracks to stare at him. Al looked around at them while James continued to glare at him disappointedly.

"You're right," he said, pinching the Slytherin crest stitched to the breast of Al's cloak before turning his back on his little brother. "You're not."


	4. The Lecture

Al was so angry with his brother that he could not watch him leave. Wanting to right his wrong, he instead embarked on recovering his friend. He anxiously pulled open the door where he saw Scorpius disappear behind. There was the boy with the grey eyes, porcelein skin, and silvery blond hair sitting on the floor with his back to a desk leg.

"Oh!" Scorpius flinched away when he saw the light expanding on the wall before him.

He unsheathed his wand and faced Al. Al could see how terrorized Scorpius still was in the aftermath. Scorpius had done his best to wipe away the mud from the side of his face. But, he would need to change his sagging cloak. His wide eyes shrank when he recognized the youngest son of Harry Potter and lowered his wand haltingly.

"I - er- I fell." Scorpius glanced over at the door shutting behind Al, "I came in here to clean off."

Al realized that Scorpius had not seen him during the incident, "I saw - I _heard _what happened."

He did not know why he had chosen to lie. He was too afraid of how Scorpius would react if he knew that Al had just stood by. Besides, Scorpius had just been trying to keep it from Al anyway.

"Oh, so you've found your br-brother?" Scorpius cheerful tone cracked at the end. "That's brilliant."

Al nodded, feeling tremendously guilty, "I wish I could have done something."

"_Somebody_ got that bloke off of me," Scorpius told Al, whom looked away. "It wasn't James Potter by the looks of him. It was like the Gryffindor bloke got shocked."

Scorpius imitated being electrocuted and Al chuckled. Maybe the lie was not so bad. He _had_ made the bully get off of Scorpius.

Scorpius continued with a grin, "_Somebody_ knew it was wrong." That smile melted away, "_Was_ it wrong, though?"

Al was alarmed, "Of course it was! You're innocent -"

"My family ... the whole lot of them were in a bad way in the war. Most of them are either in Azkaban or dead," Scorpius seemed to be trying to justify being assaulted. "They're just afraid that I'll follow in their footsteps."

Al shook his head, "Scorpius ... you're only eleven. And none of that has anything to do with you. You're one of the nicest blokes I've met."

Scorpius laughed then was very serious, "Please, don't let me turn out like them. A Potter can do it."

Al did not fancy the responsibility, "I'm not worried about that happening."

He accompanied Scorpius to the Slytherin common room so that he would feel safer. They were very late to their first lesson, but, Al did not care. He felt like poor Scorpius was worth risking detention. In fact, Al was half-hoping he would be punished so that maybe he would feel less guilty about not charging in to defend his friend. During lunch that day, he sent his owl home with a letter confessing to his parents that he had been placed in Slytherin House.

* * *

By the time Al was walking to his first flying lesson of his education, it seemed like every witch and wizard in the castle knew that he had been assigned the dorm that may have once belonged to a dark wizard. But, Al had made changes to his room to make it more hospitable. He had framed photos of his very extended family arranged on his desk and he had a wooden perch for his owl placed a corner. He was glad he had though to pack a blanket from home. He folded it up every morning before class.

He kept the room rather tidy ... almost in a gesture to ward off any previous occupants from haunting it. But, mostly because he found to his dismay that the house elves were too afraid to come clean his dorm for him. Ever since the incident with the bullies, Scorpius was attached to Al's hip. He seemed to be entirely friendless whereas Al would always have his family for company.

Scorpius would make himself scarce whenever one approached Al until Fred called out to him, inviting him back. From that moment on, it was only awkward when James joined the group for Al still felt resentful of him and would not acknowledging him.

* * *

**Lecture Day**

Harry Potter was around six-foot-two and had a very slender build. Al could admit that his father was an attractive man, which was evident by how his fellow students reacted when Harry removed his hood. 'Rugged' and 'pensive' were words that Al heard the most when they were gossiping about his father's features. Harry's silky deep voice filled the cavernous classroom. Thinking of his dorm, Al glanced away from his father's lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

Al would then focus on his father's emerald eyes and he listened politely to his father's lecture. He had heard tales about it and was mesmerized by his father's public speaking skills. When the lecture came to an end as did the class, Al was glad to reunite with his father. Albeit a little nervous: he being in Slytherin House seemed to be an elephant in the room.

"You're upset." Al deduced as he walked with his father down the corridor.

Harry frowned at his son's presumption, "What did I tell you on the platform?"

"That one of my namesakes was in Slytherin," Al quoted. "And that he was one of the greatest men you ever knew."

"_Bravest _men," Harry corrected him with a small chuckle.

Al blushed, "Whatever, dad."

Harry ignored that quip, "As long as you made this choice for the right reasons ... I won't be upset."

Al found it irritating that Harry assumed that he had been placed in Slytherin because he chose to rather than the Sorting Hat believing that was the best House for him.

He chose to ask his father about it, "If I were placed in Gryffindor, would you have assumed I chose it? A son of Harry Potter must be placed in Gryffindor, right?" Harry looked taken aback by that. "But, what exactly_ are _those 'right reasons', dad?" Al strained his neck to look up at his father. "You chose Gryffindor because you were already prejudiced against Slytherin! And you hadn't rejoined the wizarding world for even a week! Is _that_ the right reason?"

Harry had not told his son this story and wondered for a moment where Al could have learned that. He then remembered whom had been sharing a desk with his son during Harry's Dark Arts lecture. He resisted interrogating his son to confirm this guess.

"You're eleven," Harry reminded him patiently. "You'll understand when you're older."

"You were eleven, too!" Al argued his point exasperatedly, "How can you expect more of me? I'll make choices for dumb reasons, too!"

Harry took his son's hand and led him to a bench to make way for a class being escorted by professor Longbottom, "Tell me, then, what was your reason? Why did you choose Slytherin?"

"Take a wild guess," Al responded glumly, observing how tiny and soft his hand was compared to the sharp scarred knuckles of his father's long hands.

He was relieved that he had turned away those shoes to fill.

"Because I chose Gryffindor?" Harry asked him.

Al slipped his dainty hands out and rubbed his knobby knees, grumbling under his breath, "Sort of."

Harry heard him well enough and peered down at him through his circular spectacles, "I'm sad that you felt that way, Al."

Al thought that Harry was very good at making him feel guilty. This should not be so surprising since after all his father was a magical law enforcer and was capable of making the scariest criminals wet themselves - sometimes simply by flashing his famous scar. Al resented his father for the affect he had on him another moment before comprehending that Al had in fact done this to himself. He sighed and pouted, thinking hard.

"James looks at me like I'm a freak." Al told his father. "He thinks I'm not a Potter anymore."

He did not want to confess to his father how he hesitated when he saw Scorpius being bullied by older students. The memory of Scorpius being pushed into the cold mud and taunted with reverse-wizarding-racism still haunted Al. He did not want to admit that James had been the better of the pair of them. He knew that his father would find out about the incident sooner or later. But, Al did not have enough emotional strength to endure disappointing Harry Potter any further.

Or else risk disappointing his father so much that he would indeed disinherit him. Al was too young to know that this fear was irrational.

Harry tilted his son's chin up, "My godfather, Sirius Black, deviated from a long line of Slytherins. He was placed in Gryffindor and he turned out great still. His brother, Regulus, changed sides in the war and attempted to take down Voldemort." He narrowed his eyes, "Guess which House Regulus was placed in, Al?"

"Hufflepuff?" Al chortled, finding it difficult to stay resentful of his father.

Harry smiled, "Slytherin, Al. He was in Slytherin House just like most other Blacks. But, I bet he'd have done the same if he were placed in Hufflepuff." Remembering Cedric Diggory, he sat back and shifted his hand so that he cupped one side of his son's tiny face, "Do you see what I was trying to teach you on the platform now?"

"It doesn't matter what House you're in," Al guessed. "You can still be a good person."

"_Exactly_!" Harry breathed, planting a kiss on the top of his son's head. "Exactly!"

Al flinched away from the kiss, "Thanks, dad."

"I want you to be a better person than I was at eleven, twelve, thirteen, and onward." Harry told him. "To not make my mistakes. It's the curse of fatherhood."

Al raised his brows, "So ... I feel really lousy."

"It gets better, my son." Harry pulled Al in for a hug, tucking his head underneath his sharp chin.

Harry was not a good hugger to Al. His father was too bony. But, Al hugged him back all the same. It turned out that he had even bigger shoes to fill: the shoes that his father could not. Al did not know how he felt about that yet.

* * *

After his son left to eat in the Great Hall, Harry departed to the headmaster's office for a private drink. He hoped that Neville Longbottom would be able to stop by to say 'hello'. He was let into the empty office and told to wait for the headmaster to return from the Great Hall.

He smiled at the portrait of Dumbledore sleeping soundly, "Hello, old friend."

Dumbledore did not stir, but, Harry had not meant to wake him up. It was difficult still to see the face of his old headmaster, feeling cheated because he missed the real man so terribly. Harry was wrenched out of his reverie by a voice from high up on the shelves.

"I was to place him in Slytherin anyway," the Sorting Hat confessed.

In a moment of uncertainty, this worried Harry. He had thought that the only reason Harry would've been placed in the Slytherin House was because he was one of Voldemort's horcruxes.

The Sorting Hat was not finished, "You should congratulate your son, Potter. I had once thought it was impossible for a boy to have more nerve than you. He's owning up to who he truly is."

"And who do you think that is?" Harry asked the hat, more angrily than he had intended. "You saw inside of his mind?"

"Still a spitfire, are you?" The Sorting Hat bowed, "Only Albus Potter knows the answer to that."

"This isn't some doctor-patient-confidentiality thing!" Harry pushed, "You can tell me what you saw!"

The Headmaster opened the door behind him and Harry had to abandon the argument he was having with an enchanted hat. Dumbledore had awakened and was watching Harry from behind his half-moon spectacles.


End file.
